College adviser job description

The KIPP Forward Team supports KIPP Chicago alumni in developing the tools and knowledge needed to attain a college degree. By offering a mix of programs and services designed to reach every student and family - from one-on-one student meetings, to financial aid counseling, academic advising, life skills training, mentoring, college guidance, and more - KIPP Forward provides KIPP Chicago Schools alumni with the tools for success in high school, college, and the competitive world beyond.

Our KIPP Forward team is hiring a College Access Alumni Advisor for our KIPP Academy campus, located at 4818 W. Ohio in the Austin neighborhood on the west side. This is a mid-level position for an experienced professional. The College Access Alumni Advisor is critical to the success of serving a cohort of alumni ranging from 230 to 250 students per year. To ensure we fulfill our promise to support our KIPP alumni, our model begins during their freshman year of high school and continues through postsecondary plans. Our goal is to guide and equip our bright, motivated, first-generation students of color to and through college, career and beyond. Therefore, the College Access Alumni Advisor will be an individual who embraces innovation, structures, meaningful relationships, improvement, and goes above and beyond to ensure alumni remain on a path to successful careers and lives. The College Access Alumni Advisor will join a growing KIPP Forward team of High School Transition & Alumni Advisors.

The role of the College Access Alumni Advisor includes, but is not limited to the following responsibilities:

Caseload management: Our KIPP Forward team's goal is to maintain continual contact with our KIPP alumni to ensure we are supporting them to and through college, career and beyond. The College Access Alumni Advisor meets with students and families to ensure timely submission of all applications and financial aid. Accurately provides bi-weekly data reports and monitors progress towards prioritized goals in college match and student advising.

Student Advising: Backwards plans outreach efforts to support student passion/purpose/plan, academics, social-emotional and financial challenges. Executes high school campus visits while also leveraging resources to support KIPP alumni in high school. Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to support the needs of students.

Relationship Building: Build positive and lasting relationships with students and families as well with high schools, colleges and scholarship organizations. Maintains consistent communication with students & families regarding college and financial aid options.

College Access: Supports KIPP alumni and families through the college application and financial aid process, and accurately reports progress towards high school graduation and college match goals.
Project Management: Completes annual event planning for class cohorts and manages special projects to support students through pre-college summer programs, scholarship opportunities, and any KIPP Foundation initiative.

$45,000 - $55,000

Work Location:

Office-Based

Who We Are and What We Do

The union of Philadelphia Futures and Steppingstone Scholars creates one of the most dynamic, expansive, and trusted educational nonprofits in the City of Philadelphia. Our bold new vision is that “all Philadelphia students graduate high school with pathways to economic mobility through college and workforce success,” and we are increasing the scale and capacity of our services to make it easier for students to access advising, enrichment programs, and partnerships that support their success in college and/or career trajectory.

As we await final governmental approvals on our merger, we have integrated programming and will effectively operate as one organization beginning September 1, 2022. During our first year as a merged organization, we will serve 3,300 students total through middle school, high school, and college and career programming. Following all necessary approvals, we will rebrand as a single entity with a new name, logo, and website.

About this Role:

The College Success Advisor supports a cohort of college students as they navigate the system of higher education. This includes troubleshooting financial issues, coaching students on academic challenges and connecting them to opportunities related to college and career success. The College Success Advisor also supports programming and events managed by the College Success Team and collaborates as needed with other departments serving students across the organization.

You’ll help us to achieve:

• A successful transition to college for students from Philadelphia high schools.

• Strong matriculation, persistence and graduation rates for college-going Philadelphia students.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Providing monthly one-to-one advising, mostly virtually, to a caseload of students as they transition to and navigate higher education.

• Proactively and creatively engaging college students; documenting and sharing successful practices for outreach and engagement.

• Providing timely guidance and referrals to support students with accessing campus and community resources.

• Establishing and maintaining relationships with campus liaisons who advocate for collegians.

• Traveling to regional campuses semi-annually to meet with campus partners and with students.

• Organizing group events, both informational and social, to promote peer support and collaboration among student cohorts.

• Collecting, recording and maintaining student data, documents, notes of interactions and student progress in established data management systems.

• Leveraging best practices to target and support collegians who may have stopped out of school, assisting with their plans to return to college and/or the workforce.

• Connecting students to organizational or campus resources that will support them in the transition from college to career, focusing on strengthening their resumes, interview skills and other preparation.

• Supporting ongoing relationships with PF alumni.

About you:

• Have a bachelor’s degree, and perhaps an advanced degree with a concentration in counseling, education or related field of study.

• Minimum of three years’ post-baccalaureate experience working with college or high school students in an educational setting.

• Knowledge of higher education systems and processes, including academic advising, financial aid, registration and appeal processes, residential life, study abroad and internships.

• Knowledge of systemic issues in the system of American higher education, particularly those that impact historically marginalized populations.

• Experience working on a college campus in enrollment management, student services, academic advising or career counseling.

PFSS employees:

• Must meet expectations to report in-person on a schedule determined by their direct manager and/or the Vice President of the team.

• Must meet PA State background check requirements [PA Criminal, PA Child Abuse and FBI Fingerprint Check] at hire and every five years thereafter.

• Strong orientation to customer service, particularly with regard to students, partners and colleagues

• Proficiency in Google Suite, Microsoft Office and related applications, as well as use of general office equipment (phones, computers, copiers, etc)

• Fluency in the use of data and data systems. Maintains appropriate engagement with data entry, reporting and review.

• Must adhere to COVID safety guidelines as established by PFSS and/or its partners.

• Office-based staff should be mindful of the organization’s strong recommendation that staff maintain up to date with COVID vaccination and boosters.

• Site-based staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must submit to any COVID testing or other health screenings as required by the Department of Human Services and/or the School District of Philadelphia.

• Must be able to work in a busy, often complex work environment that is generally climate controlled.

• Must be able to lift up to 20 pounds unassisted on an occasional basis.

• Must be able to sit for long periods of time.

• Must be able to stand or walk for long periods of time.

• Access to reliable transportation required

About the Role, Competencies and Organizational Values

As the work of the organization evolves in the merger, we anticipate some adjustments in roles to support new, and related, duties or functions. This job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive but rather a guide. Staff should expect to perform any other related duties needed to deliver on key responsibilities for the role as defined by a direct manager or team leader.

Shortly, PFSS leadership will publish a list of role-specific competencies and through the strategic planning process, define organizational values. Staff will be evaluated on performance to the duties above as evidenced by performance objectives. Additionally, the evaluation process will also assess how staff exemplify expected areas of competence and alignment to stated organizational values.

Job DescriptionSalary: $18.00/hour

TITLE: College Retention Advisor

DEPARTMENT: College and Career Success (C+CS)

REPORTS TO: College and Career Success Manager

SALARY: $18.00 / Hour

FLSA: Non-exempt

HOURS: 25 hours / Week

START DATE: ASAP

Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) provides underserved youth with free, exceptional programs in academics, arts, and athletics within a nurturing environment, empowering them to develop their potential, pursue their education and strengthen their communities.

Core Values: Respect, Responsibility, Positive Communication and Support.

POSITION SUMMARY

The College Success Retention Advisor will work closely in collaboration with the College and Career Success team to build strategies to promote college retention and college success. The Advisor will perform duties as assigned to support HOLA alumni who are currently persisting in higher education or are in pursuit of a career/technical education. The Retention Advisor’s main focus will be to support college students who are HOLA alumni and scholarship recipients. HOLA is seeking a passionate and caring team player who is excited to strengthen and promote college and career success for the HOLA community.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work collaboratively and closely with the College and Career Success Director and Manager to guide and support HOLA’s College Success and Scholarship programs program to support college retention and graduation rates for HOLA’s college upper-class students
• Foster strong and meaningful relationships with all scholars, alumni, and students to cultivate a nurturing and supportive environment for HOLA alumni and College Success staff
• Maintain and develop a sustainable process to maintain long-term communication with HOLA scholars
• Assist in the planning and facilitation of the HOLA Senior Programming to aid and successfully transition high school seniors onto the alumni program. This includes, but is not limited to, working closely with LEAL staff.
• Develop strategies around college success to build and increase the capacity of the C+CS team to support HOLA alumni
• Support in the expansion of students served in the alumni program, by working with other departments in HOLA and external organizations & partners
• Facilitate individual Academic Action Plans (AAP’s) for students who are in need of academic or social/emotional supports
• Conduct one on one interviews with Alumni to review their academic progress and professional development
• Ensure the upkeep of student information and documentation being submitted through student communication and portals
• Support College Success staff with the scholarship exit process for college graduates, ensuring students’ successful completion of scholarship programs
• Communicate with HOLA Alumni through emails, videoconferencing check-ins, instagram-lives, one-on-one meetings, and college campus visits
• Support HOLA alumni with the yearly financial aid reapplication process
• Plan and coordinate the College Success team’s semesterly college campus visits schedule
• Attend and chaperone HS LEAL college campus visits or field trips as needed
• Assist College Success staff with HOLA Alumni communications
• Conduct regular follow-ups with all student scholars to track and monitor their progress and persistence through college and beyond
• Identify and develop resources and toolkits to support HOLA alumni on topics that will improve college and career success: college life, campus resources, financial aid, financial literacy, professionalism etc.
• Develop and maintain data, research, and strategies to support HOLA alumni retention strategies
• Stay up-to-date on college success trends for first-generation, at-risk and community college students
• Support overall College Success department programming, events, alumni communications, and other tasks as needed.
• Assist College and Success team with expanding HOLA Persistence scholarship. This includes but not limited to recruitment, application follow up with students who apply.
• Attend at least 2 in person college visits, to check in on current alumni students.

• May perform other duties as assigned
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community
• Ability to be a strong role model for youth during all working hours

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• Must have a Bachelor’s degree or higher
• Bilingual preferred
• Experience working in Education, specifically in college access, career readiness, and college success knowledge of or experience with LAUSD public schools and the LA education climate is a plus
• Experience in working with high school- and college-aged youth, modeling positive and compassionate behavior as a mentor and role model
• One or more years of experience counseling/advising students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds
• Experience supporting marginalized communities, such as undocumented students/families, young men of color, students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, etc.
• Must have a clean driving record and a minimum of three years with a California Driver’s License
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, as well as the Google Apps Suite
• One or more years of experience supporting students with filling out the FAFSA, Dream Act, or CSS Profile
• Experience in developing large- and small-scale programming, events, campaigns, and/or projects experience in capacity-building roles a plus
• Demonstrated experience communicating effectively and professionally both orally and in writing

VACCINATION POLICY

Heart of Los Angeles requires its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to certain exemptions as required by law. New hires working at Heart of Los Angeles must be fully vaccinated no later than 60 days after hire and submit to additional masking and social distancing requirements. Employees must also receive the COVID-booster shot within 10 days after becoming eligible for it. Please contact HOLA’s Human Resources Department for a copy of the vaccination policy.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The building environment does not provide air conditioning and heat in all areas. Outdoor work is expected in some cases.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments.

All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbents will possess the skills, aptitudes and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills or abilities.

As an equal opportunity employer, HOLA values having a diverse workforce and continuously strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable workplace. We encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, gender, handicap, pregnancy, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristics.